My Brother
by Hawkcat
Summary: Since I've never seen the Sonic X episode this is my version of Shadow Returns! Rouge must find away to free Shadow from Eggman. Maybe Sonic and the crew can help?
1. My Brother

"What!" Rouge yelped. "Shadow! But how? He's supposed to be…"

"Dead?" a voice behind her asked. "No bat girl, Shadow is very much alive. He's unconscious for now, but growing stronger each and everyday."

Rouge turned around to face him, "But Dr. Eggman _how_ is he alive? That fall from ARK was fatal! And how did you find him?"

Dr. Eggman laughed, "That doesn't matter you silly girl. What matters now is keeping him alive and when Shadow's strong enough he is going to give Sonic a run for his money!" He laughed again in that evil, crazy sort of way. He then left the room, still laughing.

Rouge looked back at Shadow's capsule. She saw a little hole in it, just big enough for her hand to fit into. She hesitantly slid her hand in and touched his ebony fur. It was soft; Rouge never would have guessed that, based on his attitude. Rouge glided her hand to his chest fur.

And she thought that she was in love with it. It was soft, warm, silky. Rouge thought that the fur was as soft as a baby's fur.

Just then Rouge was woken up from her thoughts as Dr. Eggman's voice came on to the speaker. "Rouge, Blue Typhoon approaching. I need you at the bridge now!"

Rouge looked back at the sleeping Shadow and whispered, "I know you probably don't remember anything, but please know Dr. Eggman is not your friend. He's using us and we're using him. But we have to act like we are on his side. When I find the right time, I'm taking you and myself far from him. Knuckles will help us. We just have to wait." Shadow was still unconscious but Rouge could have sworn she saw him smile.

"Rouge!" Eggman's voice boomed on the speakers, "To the bridge now!"

She sighed and turned to leave. As she left the room Rouge whispered, "I won't leave you behind, my brother."

When Rouge finally got to the bridge Dr. Eggman muttered, "Took you long enough."

Rouge sent him a death glare telling him to shut up or die. Dr. Eggman rolled his eyes and climbed into his Egg Dingy. Rouge got into her bat space ship thing. And so they flew into space saying nothing to each other, minds heavy with thoughts.

After about seven minutes of flying, a pink spaceship came from behind them. It was Amy's ship. Amy began firing like crazy at them, and Rouge swore that she heard Amy saying, "I'll prove to Sonic that I can keep up with him."

'_Where is Sonic anyway?'_ Rouge thought. As if on cue a light blue ship came flying right by Rouge.

"Hey Rouge! You losing your touch?" Sonic yelled to her. Just then Rouge noticed that a bunch of other ships had entered the fight. A yellow one, a green one, a purple one, a red one, and the Blue Typhoon itself. Eggman had brought ten other ships with him too. It looked like a mini war. Robots were operating Eggman's of course. Rouge could guess who was in which ship on Team Sonic.

Charmy in the yellow one, Vector in the green one, Espio in the purple one, and Knuckles in the red one. Everyone else was probably on the Blue Typhoon, driven by Tails.

"Hello? Mobius to Rouge. Hey you alive?" Sonic asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine."

Sonic laughed and said, "Wake up Rouge and join the party."

Rouge growled at her stupidity and shot off a couple lasers to try to scare the blue hedgehog off. It didn't work. Bored, Rouge began to chase his ship.

Eggman all of a sudden shot his laser at Rouge. It hit the cannon on her bat ship. "Rouge stop messing around, we have to steal the chaos emeralds now!"

"Fine, you ruin all my fun you know that right?"

Sonic suddenly laughed and said, "Hey Eggman you have a couple of visitors."

Eggman and Rouge both turned around and saw a Meterx Ship approaching the Egg Fort Two. Sonic and everyone were laughing. Sonic then noticed that Rouge looked horrified.

Eggman took off toward the ship at full speed. He was yelling orders at Rouge and his robots, but Rouge wasn't really listening. All that Rouge was paying attention to was the lasers being fired at the Egg Fort Two.

They were getting very close to the part of the ship that had Shadow in it. Rouge all of a sudden felt sick to her stomach. Everything was happening in slow motion. Only one thought was going through her head, _I'm _not _losing him again!_

Eggman turned around and saw that Rouge was frozen. He shot off another cannon blast at her. It missed, but it woke Rouge up from her thoughts.

"What?" she mumbled, "oh…oh… Shad… Shadow!" She kicked it into gear and sped off after Eggman.

Sonic tilted his head, _What did she say?_

**Author's Notes: I know it's short, but I hope it will get longer. If not, you can all flame! (Not really!) Read and Review! Sega owns Sonic and all other characters.**


	2. A Real Shame

**My Brother**

**Chapter Two

* * *

**

_Hang on Shadow, I'm coming! _Rouge thought as she raced through the dark atmosphere towards the Egg Carrier.

"Oh," Rouge moaned, "If something happens to him I'll never forgive myself… I've lost him once, but not again!" Rouge pushed a red button on the dashboard. The lights that lit up the small ship turned dark, as the ship began to accelerate.

Soon, Rouge was landing on the landing port of the Egg Carrier. When the ship touched ground the white bat was already rushing towards the sector that contained the most powerful foe and ally ever created: Shadow the Hedgehog.

* * *

Eggman began attaching new wires to the LP (Life Pod) and was mumbling curses about the Meterx.

The sliding doors made a WHOOSH sound, alerting the doctor that someone had entered the room. He turned around quickly, but to his relief it was only Rouge.

"What happened?" she demanded rushing over to the LP. She gazed into it like a child looks at animals at a zoo, their eyes filled with amazement and awe.

Eggman growled, "The Meterx happened. They ripped out the tube that gives Shadow extra oxygen and also the one that controls his Chaos Energy."

Rouge nodded, but then she asked, "What does that mean? Chaos Energy?"

"I'll give you the basics. Chaos Energy is the power inside Shadow and Sonic that allows them to use Chaos Control or Chaos Blast. But Shadow's body was created with Chaos Energy thanks to my brilliant grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik! Because he was created with this energy, Shadow's body usually can maintain it," Eggman said quietly. "Unfortunately though, the impact on Earth caused a reaction, making his energy levels unbalanced."

He looked at the white bat, "If this energy inside of him loses control, Shadow will die Rouge. You've seen Sonic and Shadow use Chaos Control before. It was strong enough to hold back Space Colony Ark. Think what it would do to Shadow's body!"

Looking at the poor scrap of black fur, now, locked away in a capsule, Rouge's mind could only think the worst.

Her eyes welled up in tears, "Is there anything we can do?"

Eggman nodded, "Yes. But the odds are 50/50. Now either get a hold of yourself and get the towel from the supply closet, or get of my ship. I can't take care of you and Shadow!"

Rouge swallowed her tears and went out to get the towel, her heart now heavy with worries. _Shadow? Dead? Not possible! It will never happen, not in a million years._

Even though she continued to tell herself this, Rouge could not help thinking that Shadow had died once before…

* * *

Eggman wiped away the sweat that ran down his forehead. He had been working relentlessly for nine hours. He gazed down at the black hedgehog that was enclosed in the glass capsule. He couldn't reattach the oxygen wire. It had been fried pretty well. The Chaos Energy wire was attached, but it would only last about three more days he guessed. After that, Shadow's energy levels would lose control within fourteen hours.

"Poor hedgehog," Eggman muttered to no one. "Never had time to show the world just what evil he could make. He could have ruled! But Maria seems to have ruined that plan too…"

The doctor looked at the Heart Monitor that he and Rouge brought in. Shadow's heart seemed to be beating at a normal rate. That at least was good.

Dr. Eggman also had brought in other machines. Some tested the hedgehog's brainwaves, his blood. The most important machine was in the small room too. The gray machine monitored Shadow's Chaos Energy level.

Shadow's brainwaves were a bit different than usual. They were more active than a sleeping person should have. Dr. Eggman could only hope Shadow was dreaming and that he hadn't been damaged his head too badly by his fall.

Shadow's blood was normal and his breathing didn't seem to messed up. His Energy patterns though were jumping up and down the chart though, like they couldn't decide were to stop or were to begin.

"A real shame…" Dr. Eggman whispered and left the room, flicking the lights off when he left.

* * *

**A/N: Oh my gosh! I wrote a chapter on a different story besides Worlds Collide! (SCREAMS AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS!) Well, hope you readers like it. I hope I have readers… I only have like 5 reviews so far. Well, if you are one of the few that are reading this REVIEW so I know I'm not the only one liking this story! Alright Byes!**


	3. Sonic to the Rescue!

**My Brother**

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Sonic watched from the Blue Typhoon as the Egg Fort Two fought the many Meterx. Explosions were blowing up as quickly as balloons at a birthday party.

Chris walked up behind Sonic, "Hey, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog didn't take his eyes off the fight, "Yeah?"

"Are we gonna go help Dr. Eggman? Or should Tails turn us around and go after the next emerald?"

Sonic closed his eyes while he thought about the possibilities.

_Eggman can take care of himself and so can Batgirl. They wouldn't want out help even if we offered it. Probably just laugh, turn around, and shoot us._

But somewhere, back in Sonic's brain, a voice whispered, _Why does it matter if they laugh? If we offer we're doing the right thing. We'd be the bigger man, well, hedgehog. And… what if they do need our help? I'm sure that Rouge said what I thought she said. We should take that risk…_

Sonic turned around and smiled at Chris. He gave the human boy a thumbs up, then called to Tails, "Tails! Fire up this baby! Were going to teach the Meterx a lesson!"

Tails looked a bit uncertain, "Are you sure? We'd be helping Dr. Eggman, Sonic. Is that the smart thing to do?"

All of a sudden Cosmo spoke up, "No it's not. But it's the right thing to do."

Sonic nodded his thanks to the Plant girl. She smiled and looked out the window. The Meterx had wiped out her entire planet, so Sonic could guess that there were other 'reasons' why she wanted to fight the Meterx, besides it being the 'right thing.'

Tails sighed, not even going to argue with Cosmo. Everyone knew that the two had been getting pretty found of each other, so Tails was probably keeping his mouth shut for certain reasons.

The little fox boy fired up the Blue Typhoon's engines and the ship traveled slowly into the midst of the battle, everyone lost in thought.

* * *

"New battle ship approaching," a robotic voice said over the intercom.

Dr. Eggman's face grew red with anger, "As if we don't have enough to deal with already!" He studied the monitor screen in front of him and yelled angrily, "Why that irritating **_warthog_** never lets me have any peace does he?"

Rouge came running into the room, "Dr. Eggman! The Meterx are invading the ship! We have to get Shadow and leave! Now!"

"We can't."

"WHAT?!" Rouge's brain wasn't keeping pace with all that was happening. Her thoughts were only on Shadow.

"We can't," he repeated. "There are too many Meterx ships out there. We'd be able to get about a couple of miles and then they would fry us. It's over." Dr. Eggman slumped into his chair in defeat.

"Well then. It's a good thing I'm offering you a chance at escaping," said a voice.

Rouge turned around, "Sonic!"

The blue hedgehog smirked, "But first, you have to listen to my conditions."

Dr. Eggman hated to ask for help, but he knew when to give up, "Fine. What do you want?"

"One: If you come to our ship no experiments without consulting Tails first. Two: No touching any of our Chaos Emeralds. And three: We get custody over Shadow." Sonic narrowed his eyes as Dr. Eggman replied sharply, "No."

"What! Dr. Eggman please! We have to leave or all will be lost. You, me, and Shadow! All of your research and effort would have been for nothing!" Rouge begged the man to reconsider.

"They don't get full custody over the hedgehog. I won't allow that."

Knuckles ran into the room, "Come on Sonic! The Meterx are getting closer! Let's go!"

Sonic turned to his friend, "I can't. Eggman here won't agree to us taking care of Shadow."

The red echidna cracked his knuckles **_(hehe, Knuckles's knuckles!)_** creating a sick popping noise, "Maybe I can persuade him?"

"Fine," the doctor sighed, defeated. "But I have to supervise what you do to him. I don't exactly trust you."

"Same to you Dr. E!" Sonic turned around, "Come on, let's get out of here." With that decided, the light blue hedgehog ran out of the room, towards the bridge. Knuckles turned to go too, but then looked back as if we couldn't decide whether or not to punch Dr. Eggman's nose in.

Rouge flapped her wings and was lifted into the air, "Come on Knuckles. I need your help."

"Help?" he questioned suspiciously.

She rolled her eyes, "You don't think I can lift that heavy Life Pod by myself do you?"

Knuckles chuckled, "Already taken care of Batgirl. I took it aboard as soon as we landed."

Rouge's eyes widened, "You did what?" She flapped her wings harder, hurtling her past Knuckles, to the Blue Typhoon, but not before whispering to him, "Thanks Knucklehead…"

He grinned, "No problem…" He then turned towards Dr. Eggman and ordered, "Sonic put me in charge of watching you, so, grab your medical and techno stuff and haul your self out of here. We leave in three minutes."

Dr. Eggman huffed, "Alright. But I may need your help lifting some of it." He then went to the storage room with Knuckles right behind him. Eggman pointed to a bunch of crates in the back corner, "Those."

Knuckles nodded and went over them. He lifted them all up in his arms and said, "I'll take them back now. You okay here?"

Dr. Eggman was unwiring a small spare back up engine for the LP. "Yes," he mumbled focusing on not damaging the frail wires.

As the red echidna left Dr. Eggman whispered to him, "Take care of them Knuckles…" Knuckles barely heard him, even with his advanced hearing.

Not sure if he heard correctly Knuckles kept walking. Now he was worried. Everyone was thanking him. He shrugged and carried the crates to the Blue Typhoon, ready to be away from this place.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've had sore arms for a while because I got three shots, so yeah, owe. It actually didn't hurt when they gave it to me. It's sore after though! lol**

**Well, maybe Eggman has good in him somewhere. It's been dead though for a long time! Knuckles is in this chappie! Yeah! And Shadow is now in the hands of Tails and Eggboy! Man, I'd be begging to be let out of the pod! Even if I was unconscious! lol **

**One reason I like this story so much (I think this is a reason) is that my mom's a nurse, so yeah it's kind of 'medical'. Now on to the next chapter! (about to click on other chapters but then spots Knux) Ooh! CUTEIE! (chases red echidna!) lol Read and Review!**


	4. Moving In

**Not Without My Brother**

**Chapter Four

* * *

**

Tails gasped as Knuckles walked into the pure snow-white medical room, in his arms Shadow's Life Pod, and Dr. Eggman, who carried many boxes stacked up on one another.

"Where does he go, Tails?" Knuckles grumbled, tired of lugging the heavy piece of equipment around the whole Blue Typhoon. Knuckles and Eggman had been deciding which room would be the best for holding the unconscious creature. They had tried three other medical rooms (All at different parts of the ship, of course), but according to Eggman they were too small for all of the necessary health monitors, medications, and the Life Pod itself. Plus, Eggman and Tails would have to be in there too.

"Right over there, far right corner," he indicated with his tails. He was too busy unpacking medications and setting them in a cupboard to help.

The echidna sighed in relief when he set the machine down, careful not to harm the 'sleeping' creature inside of it.

Dr. Eggman set down his own packages and walked over to the LP. He examined Shadow carefully, but the ebony colored hedgehog slept quietly, unaware to the world around him.

Eggman then grabbed a wire from behind the LP, attaching it to an electrical outlet. Suddenly the edges around LP lit up, a deep green light that glowed fiercely. It caused Knuckles to gape in awe. It reminded him of the Master Emerald.

"Hey…What are you doing, Eggman?" Knuckles asked suspiciously. He fisted his giant hands loosely. Tails set down the medications on the counter and walked over to Eggman and the echidna.

The man didn't even turn around. He mumbled, "This light lets me see how much Chaos Energy is in Shadow. And how much of it is out of control."

When Tails and Knuckles stood on their tiptoes to peer in, Dr. Eggman pointed at where yellow light showed through Shadow's body. "These are where Chaos Energy is. As you can see, it covers his whole body. He's made out of it."

The two nodded. Dr. Eggman then pointed to red spots that shone. Mostly they were in his arms and legs; "These are the places where Chaos Energy is slowly becoming hard for Shadow to control."

Tails gulped, "Oh…" There were a lot of red spots.

"If the Chaos Energy continues to spread, to his heart, it will cause him to die," Eggman gritted his teeth.

"But isn't Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform?" Knuckles protested. "I thought he couldn't die."

"He may be the 'Ultimate' but just as you say he's a lifeform. And when there is life, death always follows sooner or later," Eggman scoffed.

A couple seconds passed, but then Tails broke the silence by asking, "Knuckles, could you go get Sonic and you two bring up the heart monitors and IVs? I'll be down to help as soon as I'm done setting up stuff."

Knuckles glanced at Eggman wearily, "Are you sure?"

Tails nodded, "I'm sure." He was glad his voice didn't waver.

Knuckles glanced at Eggman once more before he nodded. He stalked off to go find Sonic.

Tails went back over to the cupboard and continued to place the medicines inside. He glanced over a couple of times at Dr. Eggman; just to be sure he wasn't doing anything fishy. The doctor was untangling wires to an extra engine for the LP. Innocent.

After a while the man spoke up, "Tails? What do you know about medical research?"

The question caught him off guard. "Um, uh, well…" he stammered. He then sighed and attempted to speak again, "I have taken some classes, you know in college. I know what to check for if someone is sick or unconscious. But…"

Eggman turned around and cocked an eyebrow at the fox, "Do you know anything about surgery? Where to… make incisions?" He leaned against the wall, needing to rest his back.

Tails scratched his forehead, "Um… A little bit. I know for a broken limb, but… you mean for heart or brain, don't you?"

He nodded, "Yes. Anything on that?"

The fox boy shook his head, "Not enough for it to be safe. I…I couldn't do it to Shadow and expect him to live."

"I see," Eggman nodded in thought. "That's all I needed to know." The man went back to messing with the LP.

Tails waited a couple seconds, considering. He bit his lip, "Doctor Eggman?"

"Hm?"

"Do you… Do you think it will become that serious?"

"Yes." There was no doubt in the doctor's voice. It made Tails sick to his stomach, dread flooding through his body. "This illness is quickly taking over Shadow's body. We'll have to remove the source to all of this excess Chaos Energy, or the 'Ultimate Lifeform' will perish."

Tails was afraid to ask, but he had to, "What is the Chaos Energy's source?"

"…Tails… Promise me you won't tell Rouge…But…" Eggman looked at the twin-tailed fox.

"I promise," Tails nodded.

"It's… a small organ… right below his heart…"

* * *

**A/N: Wow. This is slowly turning into one of those doctor sitcoms on TV that my mom likes so much but won't admit it... LOL! Sorry, rambling! Anyway, don't expect that much medical knowledge to appear in this. I don't know anything of the sort. Also, don't worry if blood and surgery freak you out. It won't be that graphic. And if it does, I'll let you know before hand, so you can skip that part. LOL, Al, you are sighing in relief right about now. **

**I hope all of you readers like it. If you have any suggestions, tell me. OH, and by the way, I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING! But _Worlds Collide_ and_ Life Goes On_ are capturing me. (Not right now though, stupid writer's block!) R&R! **

**Also, (I know, you wanna get on with your life, not read my stupid notes, but...) a really good story finally got updated and I reccomend it if you like humor (Emo kids leave the room). It's called _What Happens in the Mall Stays in the Mall._** **If you can't find it on search just go to my FAVORITES and you'll see it there. I don't remember who it's by though, at least not at the moment. Alright, you've suffered enough. I'll shut up now. Later!**


	5. War has been Declared

**My Brother**

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Tails could feel all of the blood drain from his cheeks; his legs became a bit wobbly.

"B-But! Dr. Eggman surely we won't have to go to such measures?" Tails slammed his hand down on the counter. Inside of the cabinet you could hear vials clinking together as their domain shook.

"Tails, calm down. You're acting foolish," Dr. Eggman scoffed. "You won't have to operate on Shadow, I will. Stop acting so scatterbrained."

Tails's knees began to wobble, "S-so, it's that bad? His… illness?"

"Yes. But there is a chance we can stop the chaos from spreading to the rest of his body. With the help of the chaos emeralds we may be able to have them absorb all of the extra energy." Dr. Eggman raised his head and his eyes gleamed, "But to even put that plan into action, we have to find all of the emeralds."

Gathering his courage, Tails wrinkled his nose and said hastily, "And before that, you have to ask Sonic if he trusts you enough to even go after the emeralds." When Dr. Eggman looked shocked Tails smirked slightly. It wasn't often when you caught the doctor off guard. "Surely you don't believe we trust you?"

Dr. Eggman gaped at his rival, but then, with a bitter voice, said, "No. Not one bit. But I do expect you to help."

"Why should we?" Tails pointed out. "Why in the world would we help you?"

"Because, I have something you want. Two somethings. Shadow, the Ultimate Life form, and Rouge, a valuable ally. If you play your cards just right, you might be able to bring them over to your side. The 'good' side. But you don't know just what you are getting yourself into, foxboy."

He growled, "We aren't trying to bring anyone to any side. We're just making sure you aren't trying anything with Shadow. How do we know you aren't going to use him to destroy the world, or something senseless like that?"

Eggman's shoulders sagged and he sighed, "Right now, Tails, if Shadow were awake, he'd be screaming in pain."

When Tails just stared at him, Eggman continued, "That chaos energy that is out of control? It feels like your flesh is burning, burning a hole right through your skin."

Tails shuddered and whispered something but was too quiet for Eggman's ears to hear.

"What? Speak up!"

"I said, 'Then we better find those emeralds quickly.'" He locked his eyes with Eggman's and said confidently, "Enemy or no enemy, every single one of us owes Shadow our life. That's what Sonic said when we headed toward your ship, and I think he's right." He dared to add, "And I know you want Shadow alive too. For the same reasons as us."

"So," Eggman cocked an eyebrow. "You only want to help to keep alive your grandfather's creation too?"

Tails let out a chuckle and shook his head. Eggman smiled too, a real smile.

* * *

"I hope this room will be suitable for you, Miss Rouge," Cream said sweetly, her head bowed. She reached and turned the doorknob, revealing a guestroom. Tails had really outdone himself when he built the Blue Typhoon. A twin-sized bed was near then back of the room, a side table, with flowers in a vase perched on it. The girls had done the decorating.

"It'll do," Rouge said stiffly, not used to such politeness or even socializing. Not since leaving Topaz.

Amy flicked on the lights and with a smile said, "Good! Do you need help unpacking or…?"

"I'll be fine, thanks." Rouge ran her fingers through her hair and decided to show her gratitude, "Thank you for everything."

Cosmo, who was behind the white bat, murmured in a quiet voice, "We're just sorry we couldn't have come sooner. Those Meterx have ruined everything, but I promise they'll regret it." Her normally pale face turned slightly pink in embarrassment at her little declaration. Also, three pairs of eyes were on her.

Rouge's pink lips pursed, "Don't worry sweetie. They won't get away with ruining _my_ home."

"Or with ruining my Sonic time!" Amy puffed out her cheeks in fury. "Before all of this he promised he would take me out on a date, but they ruined our plans!" She pulled out her hammer, "They're gonna pay!"

Cream held back tears that threatened to fall. She whimpered, "For hurting my friends and hurting innocent people. For taking me away from my mother."

"And for destroying my home world," Cosmo added. She frowned and at the memory of losing her dear loved ones.

All the girls nodded. Even for different reasons, all four girls hated the Meterx. Each vowed that they would do whatever they could to help stop their rule.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" called a cheery voice, from behind the little group.

"Sonic!" Amy squealed and rushed over to her boyfriend, trapping him in a big hug.

"UGH! Air! Amy, I can't breathe!" The blue hedgehog squirmed in Amy's tight grasp. Rouge smiled in amusement. That is, until she heard another voice.

"Saying it won't be enough. This'll be a heavy duty fight," Knuckles stated, his amethyst eyes shining.

Rouge groaned, "Do you always have to be so negative?"

Knuckles snarled, "I'm not being negative. I'm being realistic. Saying words doesn't win fights, it just starts them."

She narrowed her eyes, "What makes you think I won't follow through with my promise?"

"Guys! Guys!" Sonic waved a hand in front of their faces, slightly ticking both of them off. "Knuckles? What did we talk about earlier?"

Knuckles scratched his head, "Um? Which time?"

"When you were helping me with the IVs and heart monitor."

"Um, about Eggman and his tricks?"

"No."

"About helping Shadow?"

"NO."

"Chris and his-"

"NO! God!" Sonic screamed. "About leaving Rouge alone and NOT getting on her nerves!"

Knuckles closed one eye and pretended to think hard. He then shrugged, "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Well then maybe this will!" Rouge reached over and grabbed a fist full of his red dreadlocks and gave them a sharp pull.

"HEY!" Knuckles fisted his own hand and drew it back for a punch but Sonic grabbed his shoulder.

"Stop it you two! We can't fight each other now, not with Meterx so close to our ship. We need to be ready for any attack!"

Knuckles growled and let his arm fall back down to his side. Rouge crossed her arms over her chest, a frown across her face.

"Jesus, this is gonna be one heck of a ride!" Sonic complained.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I'm working little by little on all of my stories, so I'm gonna be a bit slow in updated for a while. Review, it motivates my braincells. LOL!**


	6. Grateful

**My Brother**

**Chapter Six** (wow, I thought we were back on chapter 3!)

**Disclaimer: Sega and Archie own everything in here, I just own the plot. With Sonic X's inspiration. So yeah, they all get credit and I get... Crap.**

* * *

_Monitors were beeping, voices floating in the distance. The shuffle of feet across the floor, cabinets being opened and closed. Sounds were the only thing that connected him to the outside world. And all of it was just out of reach, but at the same time a few feet away._

_Frustrating._

_His ears picked up a voice. It was raspy, not at all soothing to listen to. A foreign tongue on the outside. "Twenty-seven, fifty three," it would say. "Twenty-seven, fifty three." Time passed and the voice became silent for a long time. Many dreams later the voice reappeared. It became a game for the creature. To guess when it would come again had been an enjoyable pass time, for whatever it was he was waiting for. The voice seemed to enjoy the game too. The more exited the hedgehog got, the more anticipation filled the voice and it made more sound more often. Almost as if it were actually trying to converse with the hedgehog. _

_Then for a long period the native tongue had fallen silent. It frustrated the hedgehog for unknown reasons. He waited and waited, but still nothing tried to contact him. Finally he decided to try to find it._

_Peeking open his eyes, the hedgehog's vision was blurry and fuzzy, but as his reflexes kicked in, the hedgehog began to blink, making the world around him stop moving and focussed. _

**Why?** _The thought ran through the hedgehog's head, startling himself. His head and body jerked in surprise, not use to the concept of thinking yet. _**Why? Where? When?** _The questions began to race through the creature's skull, making a feeling of glee burn in his chest. It was time._

_"He he he." The hedgehog's shoulder's lurched forward, ascending the rest of the body forward to. He was being pushed up by cool, hard material. The same beneath his spines and back. It was in a slanted position._

**Table.** _Where were these words coming from? And how did he know their meaning already?_

_A rumble filled the space around him, then a blinding light shone in his eyes. The creature's new reflexes snapped his eyes shut. Now the rumble grew even louder and soon it became recognizable as the voice that had left such a long time ago. Eagerly the hedgehog waited to meet the one who carried with him the tongue of sound and wished they would teach him the new, complex language._

_The light faded from the room, and the creature's eyes opened quickly. But the rumble just grew louder and louder. _**Laughter**, _he realized. The speaker was laughing_.

_In the shadows a tall figure stood, but since the hedgehog was propped up by the table, they stood eye to eye. The figure walked forward a shiny metal rod in his hand. _**Hurry**. **Teach.**

_When the laugher reached the table restraining the hedgehog, it raised the rod up behind it's head and brought it down quickly on the body of the poor victim beneath._

* * *

"Dr. Eggman?" Tails prompted. His fellow scientist had stopped speaking, eyes glaring at the results of Shadow's brain waves. By the sound of the machine attached to the hedgehog's head anyone would have thought they were going to lose Shadow any minute and Tails's reaction hadn't helped. Sonic had ran into the room at the time, and seeing his best friend screaming and sobbing hadn't helped one bit. He had called everyone into the laboratory, assuming the worst…

Eggman lowered his hands and turned to the group. His face was expressionless.

"It's okay. Shadow's only dreaming. His brain activity just got a jump-start, which alarmed the equipment. He's fine."

_For now. _Sonic thought bitterly. _But how much longer until something bad really does happen?_ The sirens had gone off in the middle of the night, and Sonic, being the closest one to the Lab Room besides Eggman, had been awoken by the noise.

The little rabbit known as Cream wiped her eyes, "Thank goodness. I was so scared that…" She broke off again, her face scrunching up as she thought the worst.

"We all were," Cosmo whispered in her ghostly accent. She always sounded foreign when she spoke, but the gang had gotten used to it. Rouge, who was in the back of the room, wiped her tears, which she had been trying to hide. No one said anything, but Sonic could have sworn Knuckles inched closer to her.

Eggman studied the brain wave scanner, then the paper that was being printed out of it. His eyes were shielded behind his glasses, so Sonic couldn't tell if he was worried, but the vibe in the room told the blue hedgehog that the doctor knew more than he was letting on. He turned to Tails, but saw that his best friend's face was blank as well. The little fox simply shrugged; he didn't know what had just happened.

A certain white bat then yawned loudly. She rocked on her heels, then with a sigh announced that she was tired. "I'll see y'all in the morning. I need my beauty sleep." Rouge glanced at Knuckles, as if daring him to say something, but the red echidna only nodded to her.

After she left Amy managed to catch Sonic's eye, a knowing smirk on her face. He raised his eyebrow in confusion, as if to say, "so?" The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes, then made them land on Knuckles, then the door that Rouge had just exited. It took a couple seconds for Sonic to put the two together, then he understood. His eyebrows both raised in amusement and shock. A goofy little grin crossed his face, but he quickly got rid of it. He could bug Knuckles later, but now he had to focus on Shadow. Why had those sirens gone off? What was going on in the "Faker's," (as Sonic liked to call him) head?

He didn't have much time to think about it. Cosmo and Cream were standing in front of him, expectant looks on their faces. The girls must've asked him something, but he hadn't heard them.

"Uh, sorry. Wha' dija' say?" Sonic was embarrassed. He had to stop thinking and worrying about Shadow and start acting like a leader. They still had the Meterx to worry about.

Cream repeated herself in a groggy voice, "Mr. Sonic, may we please go to bed? We're really tired." As if to prove Cream's point, Cosmo yawned, her mouth wide.

"Yeah, go ahead everyone. Let's get back to sleep. We're gonna need the rest for tomorrow if we wanna ditch the Meterx." His eyes swept over Amy and Tails, a silent way of telling the two that included them as well. Tails looked over at Eggman questioningly, but the doctor shook his head.

"I have everything under control here Tails. You go get some sleep." Was it just him, or could Sonic detect warmth in the man's voice?

Nodding the fox scurried off, muttering a "Night," over his shoulder. Sonic waved goodnight then turned around, face to face with Chris. He had been startling quiet throughout the whole ordeal. The hedgehog had forgotten he was even there.

"Hey buddy, you might want to head off to bed. We're gonna need you to get us out of this space-"

"Sonic?" the boy's voice shook. "Is Shadow really going to be okay?"

Both Dr. Eggman and the blue hedgehog flinched at this. Knuckles simply shifted position, resting his weight on his other leg. He seemed to wait for their answer as well.

Sonic studied Chris intently. The boy was standing up straight, his eyes the only betrayal of the fact that he was concerned for Shadow. Chris had grown up a lot during the six years he claims have gone by. Sonic sighed, but it was Eggman who answered.

"Listen kid, Shadow's a strong hedgehog, and Tails and I might be able to fight this disease out of him. But don't set your hopes too high. A lot can still go wrong, and, well, there's a very good possibility Shadow won't make it."

Chris's eyes shone, as if he were holding back tears. Sonic came over and patted his friend on the back.

"Don't worry, Chris. Shadow will make it, he's the ultimate life form, remember?" Chris looked down at the blue hedgehog. Sonic gave him a thumb's up. "Everything will be okay."

Chris nodded and replied in a depressed voice. It was the one he had been using earlier. "Yeah, you're right. But…"

"What?"

The boy looked over at Eggman, his gaze forming into a glare. "I want to help take care of him." Chris prepared himself for the doctor to refuse, so he was shocked when the older man nodded in the affirmative.

"Alright, Chris. Tomorrow I will begin to teach you all I can on how to take care of Shadow. Now go get some rest." His glasses seemed to gleam in humor. "I don't want my assistant to fall asleep on the job.

It took a moment for Chris to respond, but once he got over the shock he said in a much cheerful voice, "Thanks, Dr. Eggman! I promise I'll be ready to help first thing tomorrow." He turned swiftly on his heel and rushed down the hall to his sleeping quarters.

Sonic's eyes followed Chris down the hall. _He's grown so much, but Chris is still himself._ The hedgehog's thoughts were interrupted by Knuckles's gruff voice.

"That was a generous proposal Egghead," he remarked. The echidna's amethyst eyes were narrowed in suspicion. "But you already have Tails. Why do you need another helper?"

Eggman sniffed, "You can never have enough helpers. Chris needs something to do around here anyway, besides drooling over how amazingly 'cool' Sonic is." He used his fingers as air quotes to show the obvious sarcasm on the word "cool."

Knuckles glared at the scientist a moment longer, then shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, not my problem. I'm gonna go check on the Master Emerald, then I'll take my shift for watching over Shadow. See ya." He walked off before anyone could protest, not that either Eggman or Sonic would. Why should they?

Sonic grinned up at Eggman, "So, Eggy, just you and me."

A chuckle rumbled in the man's throat, "Actually, it's just you. I'm going to bed. Evil geniuses need their sleep too, you know."

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and let Eggman leave. "What an ego…" he murmured. His attention then was focused on the only other person in the room: Shadow himself.

His blue 'lookalike' walked over and stood beside the life pod. Looking around to make sure no one else was around, Sonic then slipped his hand into the slot which Rouge did earlier. The temperature in the LP was surprisingly warm, most likely heated from a generator beneath. Slowly, Sonic grasped his rival's wrist. His fingers began to slide under the limb, feeling for the pulse that the heart monitor claimed to be there. At first Sonic had hated listening to the constant beeping, but soon he realized that he should be relieved each and ever time the machine made a noise that lasted only a second. Soon his fingers brushed the vein he had been searching for and pressed them tightly against it.

Bump. Bump. Bump.

Sonic smiled sadly, wondering how much longer that beat would continue. A week? A few days?

_Another minute?_

"You know, no matter what Shadow's gonna be hurt, right?" The voice scared Sonic. He whipped his head around and saw the silhouette of an echidna.

"Knuckles, buddy, don't scare me like that."

Ignoring the hedgehog's comment Knuckles gestured to the sleeping creature. "No matter what, Shadow's not going to be happy. If we can't heal him, he'll have a slow painful death. If we do, well then…"

Curiosity struck the hedgehog, "What?"

Knuckles met Sonic's gaze evenly, "If he pulls out of this then he'll still be the same old Shadow. Always grumpy and distant. Angry all the time."

Sonic joked, "Are you sure you aren't describing yourself, Knucklehead?"

The crimson echidna didn't change his expression. "I'm serious. He's going to be miserable either way. I just wish I knew why."

Bowing his head, Sonic thought about it for a while. Then he said softly, "Then maybe, when he pulls out of this, he can tell us why he's so depressed. Maybe we can help."

"Maybe is a pretty strong word when you're talking about someone's happiness. Their reason to live."

"I know. But that's a risk I want to take for him." Confidence shone in Sonic's emerald colored eyes. The look he had when Knuckles, Tails, and him fought Metal Sonic. The look he had when he challenged Eggman for the chaos emeralds. The very look Super Sonic had. Determination.

The red creature nodded and the two were quiet for a while, until Sonic yawned. "Well, I better head off. Big day tomorrow. Looking for emeralds, running from Amy, fighting for our lives against the Meterx."

Knuckles smirked, "The usual?"

"The usual," Sonic said back, a laugh in his voice, even though both knew he had been dead serious.

After Sonic had left, Knuckles looked back at Shadow and for the first time in his life, was grateful he was neither hedgehog.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Weddings, deaths, school, and a whole bunch of stuff called LIFE gets in the way. So yeah, sorry. And I really do mean it. Well, I think this has been my best chapter so far on this story. I reread my other chapters and man do I hate them. I'll revise them when the stories over. Oh, and by the way, ignore the Chaotix in the first chapter. I don't really want them in there for now. Review!**


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